The Dyatlov Pass incident was an event that resulted in the death of nine skiers north of the Ural mountains on the night of February 2, 1959. The incident happened on the east coast of Kholat Syakhl, whose name in Mansi means "Mountain of the Dead." Since then, the mountain pass where the incident occurred is called Dyatlov Pass, based on the name of the group's leader, Igor Dyatlov.

The absence of witnesses and the subsequent investigations concerning the death of skiers inspired intense speculation. Investigators determined that the skiers tore their tent inside out, fleeing on foot under heavy snowfall. Although the bodies show no signs of struggle, two victims had fractured skulls and two broken ribs. Soviet authorities determined that an "unknown compelling force" had caused the deaths; access to the region was consequently blocked for hikers and adventurers for three years after the incident. Due to the lack of survivors, the chronology of events remains uncertain.

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Background[edit]

A group was formed for a ski trek across the northern Urals in Sverdlovsk Oblast. The original group, led by Igor Dyatlov, consisted of eight men and two women. Most were students or graduates of Ural Polytechnical Institute (Уральский Политехнический Институт, УПИ), now Ural Federal University:

The goal of the expedition was to reach Otorten (Отортен), a mountain 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of the site of the incident. This route, at that season, was estimated as Category III, the most difficult. All members were experienced in long ski tours and mountain expeditions.

The group arrived by train at Ivdel (Ивдель), a city at the center of the northern province of Sverdlovsk Oblast on January 25. They then took a truck to Vizhai (Вижай) – the last inhabited settlement so far north. They started their march toward Otorten from Vizhai on January 27. The next day, one of the members, Yuri Yudin, was forced to go back due to illness.[2] The remaining group now consisted of nine people.

Diaries and cameras found around their last campsite made it possible to track the group's route up to the day preceding the incident. On January 31, the group arrived at the edge of a highland area and began to prepare for climbing. In a wooded valley they cached surplus food and equipment that would be used for the trip back. The following day (February 1), the hikers started to move through the pass. It seems they planned to get over the pass and make camp for the next night on the opposite side, but because of worsening weather conditions, snowstorms and decreasing visibility, they lost their direction and deviated west, up towards the top of Kholat Syakhyl. When they realized their mistake, the group decided to stop and set up camp there on the slope of the mountain, rather than moving 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) downhill to a forested area which would have offered some shelter from the elements.[2] Yudin, the lone survivor, postulated that "Dyatlov probably did not want to lose the altitude they had gained, or he decided to practice camping on the mountain slope. "[2]

Search and discovery[edit]

Before leaving, Dyatlov had agreed he would send a telegram to their sports club as soon as the group returned to Vizhai. It was expected that this would happen no later than February 12, but Dyatlov had told Yudin, before his departure from the group, that he expected to be longer. When the 12th passed and no messages had been received, there was no immediate reaction, as delays of a few days were common with such expeditions. It was not until the relatives of the travelers demanded a rescue operation on February 20 that the head of the institute sent the first rescue groups, consisting of volunteer students and teachers.[2] Later, the army and militsiya forces became involved, with planes and helicopters being ordered to join the rescue operation.

On February 26, the searchers found the group's abandoned and badly damaged tent on Kholat Syakhl. Mikhail Sharavin, the student who found the tent, said "the tent was half torn down and covered with snow. It was empty, and all the group's belongings and shoes had been left behind."[2] Investigators said the tent had been cut open from inside. Eight or nine sets of footprints, left by people who were wearing only socks, a single shoe or were even barefoot, could be followed, leading down toward the edge of a nearby woods, on the opposite side of the pass, 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) to the north-east. However, after 500 metres (1,600 ft) these tracks were covered with snow. At the forest's edge, under a large cedar, the searchers found the remains of a fire, along with the first two bodies, those of Krivonischenko and Doroshenko, shoeless and dressed only in their underwear. The branches on the tree were broken up to five meters high, suggesting that one of the skiers had climbed up to look for something, perhaps the camp. Between the cedar and the camp the searchers found three more corpses, Dyatlov, Kolmogorova and Slobodin, who seemed to have died in poses suggesting that they were attempting to return to the tent.[2] They were found separately at distances of 300, 480 and 630 meters from the tree.

Searching for the remaining four travelers took more than two months. They were finally found on May 4 under four meters of snow in a ravine 75 meters farther into the woods from the cedar tree. These four were better dressed than the others, and there were signs that those who had died first had apparently relinquished their clothes to the others. Zolotaryov was wearing Dubinina's faux fur coat and hat, while Dubinina's foot was wrapped in a piece of Krivonishenko's wool pants.

Investigation[edit]

A view of the tent as the rescuers found it on February 26, 1959. The tent had been cut open from inside, and most of the skiers had fled in socks or barefoot.

A legal inquest started immediately after finding the first five bodies. A medical examination found no injuries which might have led to their deaths, and it was concluded that they had all died of hypothermia. Slobodin had a small crack in his skull, but it was not thought to be a fatal wound.

An examination of the four bodies which were found in May shifted the narrative as to what had occurred during the incident. Three of the ski hikers had fatal injuries: Thibeaux-Brignolles had major skull damage, and both Dubinina and Zolotarev had major chest fractures. According to Dr. Boris Vozrozhdenny, the force required to cause such damage would have been extremely high, comparing it to the force of a car crash. Notably, the bodies had no external wounds related to the bone fractures, as if they had been subjected to a high level of pressure. However, major external injuries were found on Dubinina, who was missing her tongue, eyes, part of the lips, as well as facial tissue and a fragment of skullbone;[3] she also had extensive skin maceration on the hands. It was claimed that Dubinina was found lying face down in a small stream that ran under the snow and that her external injuries were in line with putrefaction in a wet environment, and were unlikely to be related to her death. But photographs of her corpse clearly showed her body was found kneeling against a large boulder, away from running water.[citation needed]

There was initially speculation that the indigenous Mansi people might have attacked and murdered the group for encroaching upon their lands, but investigation indicated that the nature of their deaths did not support this hypothesis; the hikers' footprints alone were visible, and they showed no sign of hand-to-hand struggle.[2]

Although the temperature was very low, around −25 to −30 °C (−13 to −22 °F) with a storm blowing, the dead were only partially dressed. Some of them had only one shoe, while others had no shoes or wore only socks.[2] Some were found wrapped in snips of ripped clothes that seemed to have been cut from those who were already dead.

Theories[edit]

Many theories have arisen about the event, from paranormal activity to secret weapons tests, but avalanche damage is considered one of the more plausible explanations for this incident.[4] One scenario under this theory is that moving snow knocked down the tent, ruining the campsite during the night. The party then cut themselves free and attempted to flee. They would likely have come in contact with the snow, which also might have ruined their boots and extra clothing. Being covered in wet snow in sub-freezing temperatures created a serious hazard to survival, with exhaustion or unconsciousness from hypothermia possibly occurring in under 15 minutes.[5] In this scenario, Thibeaux-Brignolles, Dubinina, Zolotariov, and Kolevatov were farther from the site, possibly going to find help despite their remote location, when they fell in the ravine where they were found. Three of these bodies had major fractures, and being the only bodies so injured, it lends credence to the scenario that these injuries were the result of the fall into the ravine.

One supporting factor for this theory is that avalanches are not uncommon on any slope that accumulates snow. Despite claims that the area is not prone to avalanches,[6] slab avalanches do typically occur in new snow, and where human activity is disrupting the snowpack.[7] On the night of the incident, snow was falling, the campsite was situated on a slope, and the campers were disrupting the stability of the snowpack. The tent was also halfway torn down and partially covered with snow – all of which could support the theory of a small avalanche pushing snow into the tent.

Possibly negating the avalanche scenario is that investigators saw footprints leading from the campsite, with no obvious avalanche damage noted. However, the footprints could have been preserved if there was no precipitation in the 25 days before the site was discovered, and the supposed avalanche happened after most of the snow fell. Another theory is that wind going around the Holatchahl mountain created a Kármán vortex street, which resulted in infrasounds that have effects on humans.[8]

A new theory suggests that the ski hikers were chased from the tent and killed by atmospheric electricity. They had to leave the tent because of a buildup of static electricity in the form of St. Elmo's fire on the tent, the ski poles, etc., a signal that lightning will strike. Probably there was also an indirect lightning strike that “cut” into pieces the bamboo ski pole that was used as a tent pole, and the tent collapsed. After leaving the tent, the hikers made two mistakes: they gathered under a large cedar tree and lit up a fire against lightning safety regulations and were struck by a lightning bolt.[9]

Journalists reporting on the available parts of the inquest files claim that it states:

Six of the group members died of hypothermia and three of fatal injuries.

There were no indications of other people nearby on Kholat Syakhl apart from the nine travelers.

The tent had been ripped open from within.

The victims had died 6 to 8 hours after their last meal.

Traces from the camp showed that all group members left the campsite of their own accord, on foot.

To dispel the theory of an attack by the indigenous Mansi people, Dr. Boris Vozrozhdenny stated that the fatal injuries of the three bodies could not have been caused by another human being, "because the force of the blows had been too strong and no soft tissue had been damaged".[2]

Forensic radiation tests had shown high doses of radioactive contamination on the clothes of a few victims.[2]

Released documents contained no information about the condition of the skiers' internal organs.

There were no survivors of the incident.

The final verdict was that the group members all died because of a compelling natural force.[10] The inquest officially ceased in May 1959 as a result of the absence of a guilty party. The files were sent to a secret archive, and the photocopies of the case became available only in the 1990s, although some parts were missing.[2]

Controversy surrounding investigation[edit]

Some researchers[who?] claim some facts were missed, perhaps ignored, by officials:[10][11]

12-year-old Yury Kuntsevich, who would later become head of the Yekaterinburg-based Dyatlov Foundation (see below), attended five of the hikers' funerals, and recalls their skin had a "deep brown tan".[2]

Some of the hikers' clothing (2 pants and a sweater) were found to be highly radioactive.[2]

Another group of hikers (about 50 kilometers south of the incident) reported that they saw strange orange spheres in the night sky to the north (likely in the direction of Kholat Syakhl) on the night of the incident.[2] Similar spheres were observed in Ivdel and adjacent areas continually during the period from February to March 1959, by various independent witnesses (including the meteorology service and the military).[2]

Some reports suggest that there was a great deal of scrap metal in and around the area, leading to speculation that the military had utilized the area secretly and might have been engaged in a cover-up.[2]

The last camp of Dyatlov's group was located on a direct path between Baikonur Cosmodrome (where some test launches of the R-7s were executed) to Chyornaya Guba, Novaya Zemlya archipelago (which was a major nuclear testing ground of the Soviet Union).

Aftermath[edit]

In 1967, Sverdlovsk writer and journalist Yuri Yarovoi (Юрий Яровой) published the novel Of the Highest Degree of Complexity,[12] inspired by the incident. Yarovoi had been involved in the search for Dyatlov's group and at the inquest, as an official photographer during both the search and the initial stage of the investigation, and so had insight into the events. The book was written during the Soviet era when details of the accident were kept secret, and Yarovoi avoided revealing anything beyond the official position and well-known facts. The book romanticized the accident and had a much more optimistic end than the real events – only the group leader was found deceased. Yarovoi's colleagues say that he had alternative versions of the novel, but both were declined because of censorship. Since Yarovoi's death in 1980 all his archives, including photos, diaries and manuscripts, have been lost.

Anatoly Guschin (Анатолий Гущин) summarized his research in the book The Price of State Secrets Is Nine Lives (Цена гостайны – девять жизней).[10] Some researchers criticized the novel due to its concentration on the speculative theory of a Soviet secret weapon experiment, but its publication led to public discussion, stimulated by interest in the paranormal. Indeed, many of those who had remained silent for thirty years reported new facts about the accident. One of them was the former police officer Lev Ivanov (Лев Иванов), who led the official inquest in 1959. In 1990 he published an article which included his admission that the investigation team had no rational explanation for the accident. He also stated after his team reported that they had seen flying spheres, he then received direct orders from high-ranking regional officials to dismiss the inquest.[13]

In 2000, a regional television company produced the documentary film, The Mystery of Dyatlov Pass (Тайна Перевала Дятлова). With the help of the film crew, a Yekaterinburg writer, Anna Matveyeva (Анна Матвеева), published a fiction/documentary novella of the same name.[11] A large part of the book includes broad quotations from the official case, diaries of victims, interviews with searchers and other documentaries collected by the film-makers. The narrative line of the book details the everyday life and thoughts of a modern woman (an alter ego of the author herself) who attempts to resolve the case.

Despite its fictional narrative, Matveyeva's book remains the largest source of documentary materials ever made available to the public regarding the incident. In addition, the pages of the case files and other documentaries (in photocopies and transcripts) are gradually being published on a web forum for enthusiastic researchers.[14]

Foundation[edit]

The Dyatlov Foundation was founded in Yekaterinburg, with the help of Ural State Technical University, led by Yuri Kuntsevitch (Юрий Кунцевич). The foundation's stated aim is to convince current Russian officials to reopen the investigation of the case, and to maintain the Dyatlov Museum to perpetuate the memory of the dead hikers.

Films and other media[edit]

The Mystery of Dyatlov Pass: 2000, TAU (Ural Television Agency).

The September 28, 2011 episode of Ancient Aliens (Season 3, Episode 10: "Aliens and Evil Places") from the History Channel.

The Dyatlov Pass Incident (aka Devil's Pass), a film directed by Renny Harlin, was released on February 28, 2013 in Russia and Aug 23, 2013 in the USA. It follows five American students retracing the steps of the victims.[15]

The incident figures prominently in the 2012 novel City of Exiles by Alec Nevala-Lee.[16]

The incident was featured on the Russian talk show Let Them Talk during a two hour special in April 2013.[citation needed]

The Greek author Panayiotis Panagopoulos transported the incident to the slopes of Mt. Olympus for his 2011 novel, To Perasma tou Ignatiou (The Ignatius Pass).[17]

The 2014 Discovery Channel special Russian Yeti: The Killer Lives explores the possibility that the hikers were killed by a Yeti.